The societal and economic spasms of the early 2020s highlighted the crucial role of world-spanning supply chains in the modern global economy, as well as the growing role of digital technology, including A.I. and automation, in the future economy. In The Magic Conveyor Belt, MIT Professor Yossi Sheffi explains what supply chains are, how they operate, and how the integration of advanced technology with people and processes will be the hallmark of future supply chain management.
Professor Yossi Sheffi is Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL), and Director and Founder of the Master of Engineering in Logistics Program. He is a faculty member of the MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, as well as the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. He is a global expert in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management. Additionally, he is the author of a text book Urban Transportation Networks: Equilibrium Analysis with Mathematical Programming Methods (1985) and seven management books: The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage (2005); Logistics Clusters: Delivering Value and Driving Growth (2012); The Power of Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected (2015); ); Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in Business (and When Not to) (2018); The New (Ab)Normal: Reshaping Business and Supply Chain Strategy Beyond Covid-19 (2020), and A Shot in the Arm: How Science, Engineering, and Supply Chains Converged to Vaccinate the World (October 2021). His seventh book is Strategic Planning for Dynamic Supply Chains: Preparing for Uncertainty using Scenarios (2022) which he wrote with Prof. Shardul Phadnis and Prof. Chris Caplice. The latest book written by Yossi Sheffi is The Magic Conveyor Belt: Supply Chains, AI, & the Future of Work (2023).